


Avengers: Age of Tater Tots

by NachoDiablo



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Consentacles, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mentions of head eating (offscreen), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rimming, Symbrock as Avengers, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, defining relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 21:17:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NachoDiablo/pseuds/NachoDiablo
Summary: Eddie and Venom are asked to step in as temporary Avengers while Steve takes time off to reunite with Bucky. As their working partnership develops, so does their personal relationship.





	Avengers: Age of Tater Tots

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: I’ve used bold for Venom’s voice when he’s inside Eddie (and only Eddie can hear him), and bold in quotation marks when he’s speaking on his own (when everyone can hear him).
> 
> Written for [Symbrock Big Bang 2019](https://symbrockbigbang.tumblr.com/), thank you to the mods for running such a cool event!
> 
> A million thanks to [SappyRogers](https://sappyrogers.tumblr.com/) for the gorgeous poster!! You are an amazing artist and I appreciate you more than you know. <3

****

 

**I will not forget this betrayal.**

Eddie rolled his eyes. He could feel Venom’s indignation. “You’re being dramatic,” he muttered under his breath.

**I am not.**

“You  _ are,” _ Eddie insisted, louder this time. They were walking down Market Street, and the sidewalks were crowded, but Eddie had long since given up caring whether people were judging him for seemingly talking to himself. Anyone who cared didn’t belong in the city.

Venom let out a hiss of irritation.  **We need proper sustenance, Eddie. And yet you refused to purchase the Sweet Chili Doritos like I asked.**

Eddie tried not to smirk in amusement. “We’ve been eating the Sweet Chili flavor for months. I wanted to mix it up.”

**So you choose the original flavor?** Venom’s tone was incredulous.  **Horrible. That is the most boring flavor. Even Cool Ranch would have been better.**

“Cool Ranch tastes like vomit,” Eddie grumbled as they turned and made their way through the Tenderloin.

**So?**

“So, vomit is gross, and I don’t want to taste it in my spare time.”

**Your fondness for mixing tequila with diet root beer would say otherwise.**

“Hey,” Eddie protested. “That was one time, weeks ago. No judgements.” He fumbled in his pocket for their apartment keys. It took a few minutes to coax the door open. They’d just moved apartments recently, and Eddie was still getting used to the finicky locks.

**I do not judge,** Venom said cheerfully.  **I like tasting our food again.**

“Gross,” Eddie said mildly. He pushed the door open, but before he’d taken two steps inside the studio apartment, Venom dropped the grocery bag from their hand and pressed them up against the wall.

**Someone is here,** he whispered.

Eddie looked around, squinting his own human eyes through the lense of Venom’s symbiote stare. The apartment was completely empty, nothing out of place. 

**Be quiet,** Venom warned.  **I** **_know_ ** **someone is here.**

They crept to the middle of the room, step by step. A prickle ran across their back. They turned about-face sharply, and came face to face with a woman in tight jeans and a too-big leather jacket, leaning casually against the closed front door as though she’d been there the whole time.

**Enemy!** Venom moved to attack, but Eddie reigned them in.

“No, don’t! That’s… it’s…”

It was the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff. That poker straight red hair and closed off smile had been on the news loop for the past month. Venom stood still, though he made sure they remained in an alert stance.

Romanoff let her eyes wander down Eddie and Venom’s frame. Venom wasn’t wholly visible yet, except in Eddie’s eyes and the expanse of his shoulders. She looked nonplussed as she tilted her head to one side. “So. You’re the famous Symbiote and Host duo. Hmm.”

**What is hmm?** Venom asked. **Is that good or bad?**

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know.” 

Romanoff raised one eyebrow. “You don’t know?” 

“Wasn’t talking to you,” Eddie said, before he realized that he probably  _ should _ start talking to her, seeing as she was a renowned assassin who’d broken into their apartment without provocation. 

“I mean, uh… It’s nice to meet you, Miss, uh… Widow. Or Romanoff. Or… Wait... Famous? Us?” A knot of worry began to form in Eddie’s stomach. “Who knows about us?”

Romanoff didn’t reply. She walked over to the couch, scooping up the grocery bag on her way. She sat down and rummaged through the bag with a frown. “Regular Doritos? Weak.”

**See?** Venom said in a smug tone.

Eddie ignored them both. “Is this about the request I sent you for an interview?”

“Yes,” she deadpanned. “Out of the six thousand interview requests I received after the Capitol Hill incident, I chose the Brock Report. I came here unannounced to eat bland chips and chat with you while pretending I don’t notice your teeth sharpening into daggers.”

**She likes our teeth.** Venom sounded pleased.  **She has excellent taste.**

“She didn’t say she liked them,” Eddie muttered, his eyes never leaving the petite redhead sprawled across his couch in a careless way that he knew was a ruse.

**She does, though.**

Romanoff smiled as though she had heard Venom’s comment, though she couldn’t have. She sat up and slid over to one end of the couch. She pat the empty seat next to her with one perfectly manicured hand.

“Have a seat,” she said cooly, “and we’ll cut to the chase.”

Eddie felt Venom wind through their body as they walked over to the couch and took a seat. Romanoff smiled again, her eyes slightly narrowed.

“The chase, so to speak, is that you’re coming to New York.”

Eddie blinked. “Um… Maybe we should cut to a little before the chase.”

The look of amusement on Romanoff’s face made her look all the more dangerous. “Alright. Here’s the extended cut. You took down Carlton Drake. Certain portions of his notes wound up in the hands of Tony Stark. The portions that detail your... exceptional hosting skills.”

“Shit,” Eddie groaned.

**It is fine,** Venom assured him.  **You** **_are_ ** **an exceptional host. Everyone should know this.**

“No one else is privy to those notes,” Romanoff continued smoothly. “Honestly, the Avengers see a lot of weird shit. You wouldn’t be anything more than a mention in Tony’s research notes if it wasn’t for one other thing.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. Romanoff grinned. “Your interview request, of course. Did you think I was kidding?”

Eddie frowned. He felt their chest rumble as Venom giggled.  **She is funny! And she likes us. I like her, too.**

Romanoff tapped one finger to her chin. “We’re a fan of your show, you know. You take down the bad guys. Even when it’s tough. That’s commendable.”

**It really is,** Venom agrees. **I hope you are regretting your choice of Doritos now. She deserves the very best.**

Eddie threw up his hands in frustration. “Okay, fine. So you like my show enough to kidnap me and drag me back to New York. Thanks, I guess.”

“I’m not dragging you anywhere,” she said. “If you don’t want to come, I won’t make you.”

**I’ve always wanted to travel. I think we should go.**

“You literally travelled light years to get here!” Eddie exclaimed. “Isn’t that enough travel?”

Venom sighed. **That was months ago. It would be nice to go on another trip. We need some time away, Eddie. That is what the resort commercials on the television say.**

“Okay, can we just… stop this?” Romanoff looked annoyed. “All this talking to yourself is just… weird. Can you tell me what the Symbiote is saying?”

**“I can tell you myself.”** Venom poked his head out from Eddie’s shoulder, his face in full view, his words ringing through the apartment.  **“Hello, Widow Person. I am Venom, and this is my Eddie. I apologize for his lack of proper greeting and poor taste in chips.”**

Romanoff seemed completely unfazed as she nodded in greeting. “Hello, Venom, Eddie. You can call me Natasha. It’s nice to meet you both.”

She held out her hand, and Venom raised their own to give it a shake. Natasha sat back and drummed her fingers against one knee.

“Look,” she said carefully. “The thing is, the Avengers are short handed at the moment. Captain America is… taking a break.”

Eddie wondered about her choice of words, but didn’t comment on it. 

“Hydra might be subdued for now,” Natasha continued, “but there are still plenty of other threats. We could use an extra team member. Or two.”

**“We are two!”** Venom said in delight.

“Yes,” Natasha said with a smile, “You certainly are.”

**“And we love to eat threats!”**

“I don’t know,” Eddie hedged. “How long will Captain America be out of commission?”

“Unclear.” Natasha’s face and tone betrayed no emotion, but Eddie noticed her shoulders tense slightly under her jacket. “Why? Do you have other pressing engagements?”

**“None!”** Venom chirped.  **“We can go!”**

Eddie let out a huff of irritation. “I don’t know. Maybe we should discuss it first. In private.”

**“We can discuss,”** Venom said,  **“but the end result will be the same, and you know it.”**

Natasha coughed in a blatant attempt to cover up a laugh. Eddie looked over at Venom, his brow furrowed. Venom grinned, and slunk back into their body. Eddie felt Venom’s warmth run through his limbs and curl around him in comfort.

**Please?**

Eddie looked at Natasha, then let out a sigh of defeat. 

“Okay. We’ll go.”

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

**Look at this place!** Venom exclaimed.  **Everything is so shiny!**

“And expensive,” Eddie muttered. “I’m afraid to touch anything. Including the floor.”

They stood in the entranceway of their new home, floor 46 of Avengers Tower. A sprawling living room, complete with an oversized white leather couch and a flatscreen TV the size of a small theatre screen, gave way to a metallic and marble kitchen on the left. Double doors to the right opened up to a bedroom with a California King mattress piled high with pillows.

Natasha had allowed them forty minutes to pack a few outfits and a toothbrush into a backpack, then hopped onto Eddie’s Ducati and drove them to the SFO private jet terminal, with Eddie and Venom clinging to her back. Venom had been wary of the quinjet waiting for them ( **“It is so much smaller and flimsier than a spaceship! How can it possibly stay in the air?”** ) but he’d allowed them to enter once Natasha had strode in confidently. 

**We do not need to use the floor,** Venom assured him.  **We can use the walls and ceiling if you prefer.**

“Nah,” Eddie shrugged. “It’s fine. Stark can afford to clean the carpets if we ruin them.”

“I can afford to replace them, actually. Or just build a whole new floor instead. Not that I think you’ll be able to do any damage. If this carpet is Asgardian liquor proof, it’s definitely grungy reporter proof.” 

Eddie jumped and turned sharply. Tony Stark stood behind them, arms crossed and foot tapping.

“So you’re the Symbiote Duo. I’m Tony, but you know that already. Nice to meet you, et cetera.” Tony brushed past them and walked to the center of the room. He raised his hands into the air with a careless flourish. 

“Sorry about the impersonal decorating, but this is technically a guest suite. I assume it’s nicer than whatever hovel you usually live in. Romanoff said she found you in the Tenderloin? Seriously? Anyway, it’s bland, but feel free to make yourself at home. Drag in some beer kegs, pile some pizza boxes in the corner, tape a Danzig poster to the wall, whatever the young hipsters are doing these days.”

Eddie wrinkled his nose. “Do you even know what a hipster is?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m just making polite conversation.” Tony narrowed his eyes and poked Eddie sharply in the chest. “Where’s the parasite? Is he still in there, or do you have him stashed in the fridge? We got you top of the line Tupperware.”

Eddie felt Venom gather in their chest.  **You heard what he called me. He is insufferable.**

“Agreed,” Eddie said, his eyes narrowed at Tony.

**We should eat him.**

“Maybe we will,” Eddie said with a grin. He enjoyed the way Tony’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Are you talking to the parasite? Is he  _ in you? _ Kinky. And gross.”

“He’s not a parasite.” Eddie frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t use that word, or we’re leaving.”

**And eating you.**

Eddie didn’t respond out loud, but he nodded ever so slightly.

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine, I apologize. What should I call it, then? Barnacle? Freeloader? Stowaway?”

Sharp teeth curled into a leer as an inky head and tendrils popped out and wound themselves around Eddie’s shoulder. “ **I am Venom. And** **_you_ ** **are infuriating. Do as my Eddie says, or prepare to face the consequences.”**

Unlike Natasha, Tony wasn’t unfazed by the sight of an alien bursting out from a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs hoodie. His face lit up and he immediately took a step forward. 

“Incredible,” he murmured. One hand reached up to Venom’s face, but didn’t quite touch as Venom pulled back slightly. “So this is symbiosis, huh? Your body keeps him alive here on Earth, and his body lets you do superhero gymnastics?”

“We work as a team,” Eddie clarified. “We make each other better.” Venom rumbled in agreement as he curled back into Eddie.

Tony smirked. “Aww, that’s sweet.”

**It** **_is_ ** **sweet,** Venom agreed, evidently not picking up on the sarcasm.  **Perhaps we won’t eat all of him.**

Eddie pretended not to hear either of them. “Natasha said you had Drake’s notes. Let me know if you have any--”

“Can you fly?” Tony interrupted.

Eddie blinked in confusion. “What? No.”

“Do you want to?”

**YES!**

“No,” Eddie said firmly. “I don’t think we need to get that far off the ground.”

**“YES!”** Venom’s head popped back out, his chin resting against Eddie’s shoulder. **“We would like to fly.”**

_ “We _ would not like to,” Eddie countered. “If _ you _ want to fly, then you’ll have to do it alone.”

**“This is not fair.”** Venom pouted.  **“You know I can’t be without you.”**

“What if you could?” Tony asked. “I bet I could rig up an Iron Man suit to support you. At least temporarily, not so sure about long term.” He spoke to Venom directly, not looking at Eddie.

**“Really? That would be excellent!”**

Eddie knew he should be appreciative of Tony treating Venom as an individual, but he didn’t like the idea of Venom getting trapped in some Stark Tech contraption. He didn’t like the idea of being without Venom for so long, either. 

A knock against the door jamb shook him from his brooding. Tony turned and grinned at a vaguely familiar man who stood warily in the doorway.

“Long time no see, my feathered friend. You bring Capsicle and the murderbot back?”

Eddie wondered what he meant by that. He assumed  _ Capsicle _ was Captain America, but he had no guesses on who  _ the murderbot _ was.

Natasha had offered no explanations as to why Captain America was currently out of commission. She had mentioned they were bringing on several new team members, however. Including Sam Wilson, the Falcon, who Eddie realized was the man standing outside the door of his new apartment, one eyebrow raised skeptically at Tony.

Sam didn’t answer Tony. He turned to Eddie and Venom and gave a casual nod. “Hey. What’s up?”

Eddie nodded in return. Venom tilted his head and mimicked Eddie’s nod. The man narrowed his eyes slightly, but didn’t say anything.

**“I like your feet.”** A note of admiration rang in Venom’s voice as he admired Sam’s red and black Adidas sneakers.  **“They look appropriately menacing.”**

“Right,” Sam said warily. “Thanks, man.”

**“You are very welcome!”**

“Enough fashion chat,” Tony interrupted irritably. “What active seniors community are they hiding out in?”

“I don’t know where Steve is,” Sam said. His tone was flat, not trying to hide that fact that he was clearly lying.

“I don’t know why Cap hangs out with a bunch of liars,” Tony lamented. “At least  _ you _ have the decency to commit to it. Natasha claims ignorance, too, but she’s always wearing his jacket, just to rub it in my face.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Not my problem, man. I’m just here to get an update on my wings.”

“Fine,” Tony huffed. He clapped Eddie on his non-Venomed shoulder and headed out of the room. “We’ll talk later, goo guy. Make yourself at home, let JARVIS know if you need anything.”

Tony closed the door behind him. Eddie sighed in relief as Venom slunk back into his chest. “Who’s JARVIS?” he wondered aloud.

“That would be me.” A calm, clear voice echoed from the ceiling. “I am Mr. Stark’s artificial intelligence system. I can provide you with whatever you want, you need only ask.”

**Can he provide us with privacy?**

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed. He looked up at the ceiling. “Um, could you leave us alone for a while? We kinda want to settle in. By ourselves.”

“Of course,” JARVIS said. “I shall take my leave. Please ask if you need anything else.”

The room fell silent. Eddie let out a sigh of relief and walked through the living room to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. He rested a hand against the glass and peered out. Tall buildings loomed over the tiny, ever-moving dots of people and cars on the ground.

**Look at how far down everything is,** marveled Venom.  **So small. And yet other things are so big.**

“It’s a lot,” Eddie said softly.

Venom slid up through his arm. Eddie felt Venom’s weight in his hand, warm and familiar.

**Are you happy to be back?**

Eddie thought for a moment. He hadn’t been back to New York in years. The city had no doubt changed since he’d been there last.  _ He _ had changed, too.

“I’m not sure,” he hedged. “This place is a lot swankier than my old apartment. And I never thought I’d be filling in for a superhero. It’s a lot of pressure.”

**We can do it,** Venom said confidently.  **But I am glad we have some time to ourselves. The other humans mean well, but they are not you. I always like you best.**

Eddie smiled. “I like you best too,” he chuckled. “Now, let’s go check out the TV situation. I bet Stark’s got any movie we want.”

**And we can have any chips we want!** Venom exclaimed.  **Right?**

Eddie grinned as he walked over to the couch and flopped down. “Yeah, we can. Any chips you want.”

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

**Look at all those heads.** Venom sounded pleased as they tossed another unconscious Hydra agent on top of the pile they’d collected over the past ten minutes. **Surely we can eat a few. These are bad guys, Eddie. We are allowed to eat the bad guys.**

“We’re superheroes now,” Eddie reminded him. “I don’t think superheros are cool with eating heads.”

**Natasha would be very cool with eating heads.**

“Fair.” Eddie nodded towards a metal barrel in the corner of the warehouse. A lone Hydra agent crouched behind it, but his poor attempt at disguise was no match for symbiote senses. “But I don’t think this is the right time.”

In a split second, they charged over to the barrel, scooped up the agent and lightly bashed his head so that he fell unconscious before he could lift a finger to his trigger. They tossed his body onto the pile with the others; a quick scan of the room confirmed that every hostile was now neutralized.

**There is always time for a snack,** Venom grumbled.  **Our health must come first.**

One of the agents’ helmets fell off his head and slammed against the concrete. Eddie grimaced as the head lolled back over one shoulder. 

“These look pretty greasy. I’m sure we can find better ones. We can ask Natasha, she might have some ideas on where to find--”

“What the  _ fuck?” _

Eddie felt Venom tense as they turned sharply towards the new voice. They relaxed as they recognized Tony in his Iron Man costume, hovering above the ground next to Natasha.

“Um… is everything okay?” Eddie wondered if Tony had been alarmed by the head-chomping talk, but Tony gestured towards the pile of agents and shook his head.

“It’s been less than fifteen minutes, and you managed to neutralize twenty-five Hydra goons? And neatly stack them like Lincoln Logs?”

Eddie shrugged. “I mean, they were only armed with guns. Not that difficult to subdue.”

“Right,” Tony said incredulously. The helmet of his suit folded in on itself, leaving his face exposed. He planted his feet on the ground and walked over to Eddie and Venom, poking their chest lightly. “You’re not injured? You have super fast healing or something?”

**“I heal us.”** Venom spoke from their shared face.  **“Bullets are not difficult. They do not harm us.”**

“Wow.” Tony tapped their chest once more. “We have got to run some tests, soon.” He looked back at the unconscious agents. “Impressive work. Hopefully a few of these clowns will be something more than pawns, and we’ll be able to get some decent interrogation in.”

“Right.” Eddie nodded. He was relieved that they’d decided against the head-eating. 

Natasha cleared her throat. “Maybe we can stop swooning over the body count and focus on collecting the Intel on the--”

Eddie fished around in their back pocket, pulled out a USB, and tossed it over to Natasha, who caught it without looking. She stared down at the small device in her palm for a long moment before looking up at Eddie incedulously. “How did you have time for this?”

Eddie pointed to the computer setup in the far corner of the room. “I mean… it’s right there. I  _ do _ know how to use basic tech.”

“So the agents let you rifle through their files before you took them out?” Natasha asked dryly.

Eddie furrowed his brow in confusion. “No, Venom did some body-hopping while I did the hacking. Kept them busy, took a few out.”

“Divide and conquer. Nice.” Tony held out his hand, and Natasha dropped the USB into it. He closed his fist around it for a few seconds while he stood still, then dropped the device onto the ground and crushed it with his boot. 

“All good, downloaded and cleared. We can roll out.” He eyed the pile of bodies. “Guess we’ve gotta get these meat bags onto the quinjet. JARVIS, can we get some hovercarts or something--”

**“We will carry them.”** Venom lengthened in their body, squared their considerably broader shoulders, and scooped up five Hydra agents into their arms. In less than ten minutes, they’d made the five round-trips necessary to load all twenty five Hydra agents into the quinjet’s holding cell.

After the quinjet took off, Tony and Natasha started handcuffing the agents. Venom shrank down into their chest so that Eddie could help. As they worked, Tony shot Natasha a glare. 

“Can we stop pretending like I don’t know which Star Spangled Man With a Plan tipped us off about this wannabe Hydra revival camp?”

Natasha didn’t respond. Tony sighed heavily.

“Look, I’m not mad anymore. He doesn’t have to keep avoiding me. It’s not safe for a pair of nonagenarians to be living on their own.”

Natasha kept her gaze focused on the handcuffs she was fastening, but she raised one eyebrow delicately.

“Ugh!” Tony groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. “So sue me for being pissed! It was a perfectly reasonable response! He  _ killed _ them, Natasha!”

Eddie fought to keep his expression neutral as he snapped a set of handcuffs closed. Captain America had killed someone? Multiple someones? 

**Do you think he ate their heads?**

“Shh!” Eddie hissed under his breath. Luckily Tony and Natasha hadn’t noticed. Natasha let her hands fall to her sides as she turned to face Tony.

“He was a victim.” Natasha’s voice was brittle steel as her hands clenched into fists. “You’re a smart man. You read his files. You  _ know.” _

“Yeah, I know.” Tony sounded tired. He reached out and rested a hand on Natasha’s shoulder. “Look, neither Steve nor I were at our best. But what’s done is done. Barnes has suffered more than enough. Tell them to come back. We’ll clear his name, make some press statements. Or not. Whatever they want.”

Barnes? Who was Barnes? Eddie knew from his many Netflix documentary binges that James Barnes had been Steve Rogers’ best friend, back in the forties, but he was long dead. Maybe it was a relative. He watched Natasha carefully out of the corner of his eye to see her response.

Her expression was blank as she stared at Tony for a few minutes. Eventually, she relaxed into a smile.

“You just wanna get a crack at that arm.”

“Can you blame me?” Tony laughed. “I’ve got to get in there and see how it works. And upgrade it! Oh, the possibilities!”

Natasha chuckled and shook her head. “Go check the Comms. We’ll finish up here.”

“Excellent.” Tony gave Eddie a salute as he strode out of the holding cell. Natasha snapped handcuffs on another agent. She pulled another pair seemingly out of thin air and tossed them to Eddie. 

“Last one, right?”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, think we got ’em all.”

“Great. We can take a break before we land. I’ve got some texts to send.” She smiled, more genuinely than Eddie had seen before. “You two work well together. It’s surprising.”

**Why is it surprising?** Venom asked. 

“Yeah,” Eddie said, “what’s surprising about that?”

Natasha looked like she was biting back a grin. “Well, I mean… you two are an odd partnership. Alien symbiote isn’t a typical meet-cute story.”

**Of course we are not typical,** Venom scoffed.  **We are special. We are** **_us._ **

Eddie agreed. “Maybe we’re odd, but we’re partners all the same.”

Natasha said nothing, but her grin widened.

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

**I don’t see why we need to go to the gym,** Venom grumbled. **I can keep us healthy. We do not need to practice. We should be practicing building jumps instead.**

“We can do that this weekend,” Eddie replied as the gym doors slid open automatically. “But it’s good to get into the habit of-- oh!”

He came to a halt a few steps into the gym. Natasha had mentioned that the gym was empty most days at this hour, but that was not the case that day. Eddie stared incredulously as two impressively built men sparred on a padded section in the far corner of the room.

**Do they have symbiotes as well? They move differently than other humans.**

Eddie frowned. Venom wasn’t wrong. The two men moved nearly too fast for Eddie’s eye to catch, and their acrobatics were something even Natasha would surely have difficulty with. “I’m not sure.”

Just then one of the men looked right at them, the one with the dark brown hair pulled back into a low bun. He crouched into a defensive stance. The other man immediately turned to face them as well, and Eddie inhaled sharply.

It was Captain America, in all his blond haired, blue eyed, too-tight t-shirted glory.

Unsure of what to do, Eddie waved and flashed a crooked grin. The dark haired man narrowed his eyes and looked up at Captain America, who nodded down at him before turning to flash a blinding smile at Eddie.

“Hi there,” he called as he walked over, one arm outstretched. “I’m Steve Rogers. You must be Eddie Brock.”

Eddie shook the proffered hand. “Yeah. I, uh… it’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Steve said. He had an impressively firm grip. “Nat told me that you and your partner are filling in for me while I’m… out. I appreciate it.”

**“We are happy to help out,”** Venom said from Edie’s shoulder. Neither man seemed alarmed by his appearance.  **“This city is more fun than San Francisco. The buildings are taller. More fun to jump from.”**

The brunet scoffed as he straightened up. “Don’t be getting any ideas, punk.” He shot Steve an unimpressed look. Steve flashed a shit-eating grin in response.

Eddie shifted his stance awkwardly. “Um… we can come back, if you two need some privacy.”

The brunet rolled his eyes. “We ain’t screwing in here.”

“Not right now, anyway,” Steve said, his grin widening. Eddie nearly choked on his inhale, but the brunet seemed unfazed.

“And even if we were, there’s plenty of room.” The brunet gestured around the huge expanse of the gym.

“Right…” Eddie trailed off, unsure of how to respond. Steve seemed to pick up on his discomfort, and his expression softened.

“Eddie, I’d like you to meet Bucky Barnes.” He gestured to the brunet. “Buck, this is Eddie and his partner, um… “

**“Venom. We are Venom and Eddie.”**

“Right. Venom and Eddie, this is my boyfriend, Bucky. We’ve been, uh, taking some time off, what with all the media hoopla lately.”

Eddie fought to keep his jaw from dropping. Captain America had a boyfriend? And what ‘media hoopla’ was he talking about? He mentally ran through the news headlines from the last few months. 

He vaguely remembered some chatter about Captain America going toe-to-toe with a renowned assassin in D.C. shortly before he disappeared. And Bucky was the nickname for James Barnes one of the Howling Commandos, Cap’s best friend back in the forties… 

Oh.  _ Oh. _

Steve seemed to notice the flicker of recognition in Eddie’s face. His jaw hardened with a stubborn set. “Bucky’s been through a lot. I don’t know what you’ve read, but--”

“Simmer down,” Bucky said quietly. He rested a hand on Steve’s shoulder. Steve looked over at him, his brows knit. Bucky smiled, and gave Steve’s shoulder a squeeze. Steve’s face relaxed into a warm smile of his own.

Eddie cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you. Um, but if you’re back, does that mean we’re going to be off duty, or… ”

“Not yet.” Steve shook his head. “We aren’t on active duty right now. We’ve still got some training to do. Gotta ease into things, you know?”

“Sure.” Eddie nodded. He looked back and forth between the two men. “We saw you two sparring. You’re both super soldiers, or something?”

“Yeah, we are.” Steve raised an eyebrow. “What about you? How does the whole symbiote thing work?”

**“Eddie sustains me to live on Earth,”** Venom explained, **“and I make him stronger and faster.”**

“Nice,” Steve said. “So you two just… clicked?”

**“Eddie is my perfect host,”** Venom bragged.  **“He and I are an ideal match. I would be too much for any other human to handle. I would kill them eventually.”**

“You’re almost too much for  _ me _ to handle,” Eddie muttered. Bucky snickered, but Steve remained focused on Venom.

“How do you think you’d do with an enhanced human host?”

**“I have never tried!”** Venom sounded excited, which put Eddie on alert.  **“I would like to try, if one of you is willing?”**

“No.” Bucky shrank back a little, shaking his head furiously. “No, no, no, I don’t want anyone else inside my head.”

“Shhh.” Steve grabbed Bucky by the shoulders. “You don’t have to. Never again, you hear me?”

Bucky took a few deep breaths. He nodded slowly. Steve closed his eyes, and rested their foreheads together.

Eddie felt incredibly awkward as he witnessed what was clearly a private moment. He shot Venom a glare, but Venom seemed not to mind as he eyed the two super soldiers with interest.

**“I would never enter an unwilling human friend,”** he said magnanimously.  **“There is no joy in that for me. It is rude. And more importantly, boring.”**

Steve looked over at them with side eyes. “What about a willing human? Like me? Is it safe for you to leave Eddie, or will it hurt him to be without you?”

Eddie didn’t love the idea of Venom jumping into Steve, but before he could reply, Venom beat him to it.

**“Eddie will be fine on his own for a short while, and I am eager to see what your insides are like.”**

Steve grinned and opened his arms wide. “Let’s try it, then.”

A feeling of hollowness swept through Eddie as Venom left his body and leapt into Steve’s. Steve grinned and stretched his limbs as Venom eased into him. Within seconds, they were bounding across the gym ceiling and bursting out of the open window onto the side of the building, with Steve’s excited whoops echoing in the empty room.

Eddie bit back a pang of jealousy. He wasn’t sure why, exactly. Venom had been in other bodies before. It wasn’t usually a big deal. But this felt… different, somehow.

“It’s tough, isn’t it?”

Eddie jumped in surprise. Bucky was standing next to him, his soft voice barely above a whisper as it drifted into Eddie’s ear. “Uh, I guess. I mean, we don’t usually spend time apart, and he doesn’t usually… um… I just… what do you mean?”

Bucky arched one eyebrow delicately. “You know what I mean.” He nodded towards the open window, where Steve’s laughter could be heard ringing from outside. “Having a bossy little shit with zero chill for a partner.” He shook his head, but the smile on his face was fond. “Pains in the ass, but we love ‘em anyway.”

“Love?” Eddie felt himself flush. “I don’t… I mean, yeah, I  _ care _ about Venom, and we’re partners, but not… You and Steve are… and  _ we _ aren’t…” He trailed off, unsure of what he was trying to say. He decided that silence was the best course of action for now.

Bucky shot him a smug grin, but didn’t say anything in reply. 

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Excuse me, but there is someone trying to breach the security perimeters.” JARVIS’ voice was calm as he spoke through the kitchen ceiling. Steve, Natasha, and Eddie were circled around the island, which was strewn with sandwich fixings. Venom was peeking out from Eddie’s shoulder, watching him with a critical eye as he sliced leftover filet to add to their sandwich.

“A couple of someones,” Natasha added. She sounded unconcerned as she piled sliced onions onto her sandwich. “Amateurs.”

“They do not seem to be very skilled at keeping a low profile,” JARVIS agreed. “How should we proceed?”

Natasha shrugged as she slathered the top half of her roll with spicy mustard. “Eh, let’s see how far they get by the time we’re done with lunch. I don’t want my sandwich to get soggy.”

“Then maybe don’t add so many sauces.” Steve grimaced as Natasha reached for the vinaigrette with a smirk. “Let’s just take care of it now before Bucky comes down. He’s still in the shower. It won’t take more than ten minutes, and then we can all eat lunch together.”

**“We can take care of them,”** Venom piped up.  **“We need to wait for the tater tots to finish baking, anyway. You two can remain here with the sandwiches.”**

“You just want to check out the head situation,” Natasha teased. Eddie chuckled nervously. He eyed Steve, who was clearly trying keep a neutral expression.

Eddie cleared his throat and willed Venom to slink back into their body. He breathed a sigh of relief when Venom eventually took the hint and complied. “We’re just kidding about the heads--”

**No, we are not--**

“--but we’re happy to check out the situation. It’s probably only a one person job--

**We are** **_two._ **

“Or rather, a one person, one symbiote job. If, uh, that’s okay with you, Cap.”

**I don’t know why you are asking** **_him._ ** **Tony said** **_I_ ** **was in charge while he and the Falcon are out.**

Eddie smothered a grin, though he didn’t acknowledge Venom’s grumbles. Tony had indeed said that, but Venom knew as well as Eddie did that while Steve might not officially be back on the Avengers team, he was always the one who was truly in charge, whether Tony was there or not.

Eddie was amused, however, at the reverent way Venom said  _ the Falcon. _ He’d taken to Sam right away, but watching Sam fly for the first time-- with “real wings,” no less-- had sealed the deal to make him far and away Venom’s favorite Avenger.

“I appreciate the offer,” Steve said kindly, “and it probably  _ is _ just a simple job, but we might as well let Nat take care of it, in that case.” He grinned and plucked a pickle off Natasha’s sandwich. “You mind? Since you’re the stealthiest one here. Plus I’m still working on Bucky’s sandwiches.”

Natasha narrowed her eyes. “You better replace that pickle by the time I get back.” She turned on her heel and headed out of the room.

“You’re the best!” Steve called out after her. He snatched another pickle off Natasha’s sandwich before he grabbed a fresh sub roll from the basket on the counter and started to slice it with a serrated knife the length of his forearm. Three sandwiches were already arranged neatly on his plate, but Eddie knew super soldiers ate nearly as much as symbiotes.

Natasha had looked vaguely disgusted when Eddie had emptied two bags of seasoned tater tots onto a baking sheet, but Steve had grinned in approval.

The oven timer dinged, and Eddie moved to take the tater tots out of the oven. Steve eyed them appreciatively as Eddie set the tray on a counter trivet to cool. “Maybe we should throw in another bag,” Steve mused. “Bucky’ll be extra hungry, and--”

“Steve?” Natasha’s voice crackled over his wrist intercom. “I need backup. These clowns are a distraction, there’s another set of intruders somewhere. They mentioned something about an _ asset acquisition.” _

Eddie winced as the plate in Steve’s hand crashed to the ground. Steve’s eyes were wide, and his face was lined with pain.

“JARVIS,” he said, “Please confirm Bucky’s whereabouts.” His voice was low and tight. Eddie felt Venom tense in their chest.

“Sergeant Barnes is in your suite,” Jarvis replied. “He is in the living room by the north windows, alone. Or, wait, no. Apologies, he has just been joined by three unidentified--”

Steve tore out of the kitchen before JARVIS could finish. Eddie paused to take a breath and assess the situation. He peered up at the ceiling. “JARVIS? Are there any other intruders we should know about?”

“Let me check.” Jarvis went silent for a moment. “No, I believe Ms. Romanoff has contained the rest.”

“And does she need help?” Eddie knew the answer before it came, as did Venom, whose snicker rumbled against their ribcage.

“She does not,” JARVIS confirmed. 

Eddie nodded, though no one was there to see it. “Alright then. We’re faster, we’ll be able to get to Bucky before Cap does. Let’s go!”

No sooner had Eddie declared their intentions when Venom let out a whoop, scooted them across the room to the window, and flung it open. In seconds, they had scaled the side of the building and made their way up to Steve and Bucky’s floor.

They swung through the living room window with a crash, and rolled into a defensive stance once they hit the middle of the room. Eddie was about to shout out a warning when they noticed that Bucky was standing by the sofa, clad in ripped sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, one hand resting lightly on his hip. His hair was still damp from his shower, and he appeared completely relaxed as he gave Eddie and Venom a bemused look. Three people in black tactical gear lie in a neat pile next to the sofa.

Eddie felt their cheeks flush as they straightened up. “So… I guess you don’t need any help?”

Bucky shrugged. “Guess I need help cleaning all this glass off the floor.”

“Sorry,” Eddie mumbled as Venom shrank back down inside of him. “We got carried away.”

“No need to apologise,” Bucky said with a grin. “You guys make an impressive entrance.”

**We do.** Venom seemed pleased.  **We deserve a reward. Look at those heads, Eddie, do they not look delicious? And Sergeant Bucky has already prepared them for us.**

Eddie examined the three bodies in what he hoped was a casual manner. They were indeed dead, not just knocked out. Their uniforms looked neat and clean. They would probably be safe to nibble. “Hey, could we… do you mind if we, um…” He gestured vaguely to the bodies, attempting to look nonchalant.

The corner of Bucky’s mouth turned upwards. “Do what you gotta do. I don’t--”

The apartment door burst open, slamming against the wall with a sharp bang.

_ “Bucky!”  _

Steve stood framed in the doorway, hair mussed and eyes wild. His chest heaved up and down with his strangled breaths.

Bucky smirked as he ran a hand through his damp hair. “You’re gonna give yourself an asthma attack, punk.”

Steve didn’t answer. He stormed across the room and cupped Bucky’s face in his hands. “Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?”

“It was only three guys,” Bucky chuckled. He put his hands on Steve’s waist and rested their foreheads together. “Didn’t even break a sweat.”

**Good. That means the snacks will not be sweaty either. I know you don’t like the taste.**

The concern in Venom’s voice made Eddie smile. Truth be told, he didn’t mind the taste so much by now, but it was nice to have Venom fuss over him a little.

He shifted awkwardly as Bucky and Steve continued to stare into each other’s eyes. Before he could clear his throat and ask them politely to move out of the way so he and Venom could get to their snacks, Steve surged forward and pulled Bucky into a searing kiss. Bucky returned it eagerly, his hands moving to grasp at Steve’s hair. 

And ass.

**Oh.** **_Oh._ ** **Well. This is…**

Eddie felt his face heat up as Venom’s interest was piqued. He was no stranger to two men getting frisky, in any shape or form, but this was different. This wasn’t the awkward fumbling in the bathroom of a club, or the intense fucking cached in his porn folder. This was two people desperate for each other, raw and emotional, beyond just the physical.

Or, well… including the physical. Very much including the physical.

**Perhaps we should take our heads and leave.**

“Yeah, good call,” Eddie murmured as Steve shoved Bucky up against the wall and worked his hands roughly under his t-shirt, which was living on borrowed time as Steve ripped and hiked it up Bucky’s torso. “Actually, let’s just leave. We can come back for the heads.”

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Eddie stared up at the bedroom ceiling. He had gone to bed hours ago, but he remained restless. Venom seemed to be equally as alert; Eddie could sense it. He closed his eyes and sighed, willing himself to fall asleep, but it was useless.

The memory of Steve and Bucky wrapped together refused to leave his mind. The way Steve had cupped Bucky’s face with gentle fingers; the way Bucky’s face had softened as their foreheads rested together.

It had been a long time since Anne. He’d hooked up with other people since then, but not for a while. Not since he and Venom got together, now that he thought on it. It wasn’t something he missed. With Venom to talk to, he was never short on companionship these days. And as far as his libido went, Venom was polite enough to give Eddie his privacy whenever he needed to take the edge off.

Like during the extra-long shower he’d taken that evening, for instance.

**Eddie?**

“Mmm?” Eddie closed his eyes in annoyance. Venom’s wheedling tone indicated that he’d be in for a long night of symbiote question-and-answer. Not that he was sleeping anyway, but still.

**I have a question about those things?**

Eddie yawned, eyes still shut tight. “What things?”

**The things we saw the Captain and the Sergeant doing.**

Eddie’s eyes flew open. “Um… what?”

**You** **_know_ ** **what,** Venom said with a hint of frustration.  **You saw them. They exchanged kisses and pressed against each other very closely.**

Eddie felt his cheeks heat up as the visions of the two men tangled together flash through his mind with more clarity. “Yeah, they, uh… they sure did.”

**And there was ass grabbing.**

“Yeah,” Eddie said, his voice cracking. “There was a lot of that.”

**It was very romantic.**

Eddie bit back a chuckle. “Sure, yeah. Very romantic.”

**Why don’t you and I do any of those things together?**

The chuckle in Eddie’s throat choked him.  _ “What?” _

**I said, why don’t you and I--**

“I heard you,” Eddie interrupted, “I just… I don’t…”

**Yes,** Venom pouted.  **You do.**

“I…” Eddie squeezed his eyes shut again and took a few slow breaths. “We’re not, um… we’re not like them, we--”

**Yes, we are. They are partners; so are we.**

“Fine, yes, but that’s not why they kiss and… ass grab, and whatever. They do that stuff because they’re boyfriends.”

**We aren’t boyfriends?**

Eddie winced. “No, we’re not boyfriends.”

The room fell quiet, save for JARVIS’s ambient noise. It had been switched to rainforest sounds per Venom’s request, after he’d seen the Jungle Book.

Eddie wasn’t sure why he felt guilty. It wasn’t like he was rejecting Venom. He was just clarifying things. Truthful things. And they were obviously still partners who cared about each other. Hell, they kept each other alive. You don’t get any more devoted than that. There was nothing to feel guilty about.

**I think we** **_are_ ** **boyfriends** . Venom sounded confident in his assessment.  **I have seen enough television to know how boyfriends act. Also I’ve seen the videos you watch when you’re having your private time.**

“It’s called  _ private time _ for a reason,” Eddie snapped.

Venom seemed unconcerned with Eddie’s ire.  **Think about it,** he continued.  **We are happiest when we’re together. We rely on each other and support each other. We go on dates.**

Eddie frowned. “We don’t go on dates.”

**We do,** Venom insisted.  **We go out to dinner. We see movies. Just last week we watched the sunset together. That is extremely romantic according to movies.**

“We were on a mission that day,” Eddie pointed out. “I don’t think making piles of dismembered Hydra agents while the sun sets over a burning lab is considered particularly romantic.”

**Maybe not for boring people,** Venom sniffed.  **But it is for us. It’s our special thing!**

Eddie smiled. “I guess that’s true,” he admitted. 

**Plus we’ve already kissed.**

“I… we didn’t…” Eddie sputters as Venom rumbles with glee in his chest.

**We did. Why are you so averse to reality tonight?**

“Shut up,” Eddie muttered. “Fine, yes, we did kiss, but it wasn’t romantic! It was under duress! And there was an Anne in the middle of it!”

**There should be an Anne in the middle of every kiss. We like Anne.**

“That’s besides the point,” Eddie argued. 

**What is the point?**

Eddie sighed. “The point is, we’re not boyfriends. You can’t just… we’re talking about a relationship, not a behavioral pattern. Two people have to decide that together. You have to ask, you can’t just assume.”

**Oh. Well then--**

“Don’t ask right now!” Eddie said hastily. “Can we just get some sleep and talk about it in the morning?”

**I guess so,** Venom grumbled.  **If you insist on making things difficult and dragging out the inevitable.**

Venom stretched out through Eddie’s body. Warmth ran through him as Venom wound through his limbs, but Eddie felt a shiver run up his spine despite the heat. He thought about how it would feel to have Venom’s tentacles skim over his bare skin, but only for a moment. He quickly shoved that thought aside and attempted to clear his mind the way he’d done back when he’d first moved to San Francisco, when he’d spent six months meditating after reading  _ Full Catastrophe Living. _

**You are so soft,** Venom said as he settled in. **We fit well together.**

“We do.” 

Eddie tried to relax and will himself to sleep. Just as he was about to drift off, Venom piped up once again.

**We would fit well together in other ways, too. I saw one of your private videos where one boyfriend shoved his entire--**

“Okay!” Eddie choked out. “Let’s not talk about this right now. This is a tomorrow conversation.”

**All right,** Venom agreed.  **We can re-watch that movie, too. Tomorrow.**

“Sure,” Eddie said listlessly. “No! No, wait… well, maybe. Let’s just try and get some rest now, okay?”

**Okay. Sleep well, Eddie.**

“Thanks, buddy. You too.”

Venom fussed for a few moments before he settled down, still entwined through Eddie’s body. Eddie exhaled through gritted teeth and stared blankly up at the ceiling.

It was going to be a long night.

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“I’m telling you, man, wings are the way to go.” Sam rested his hands on Eddie’s shoulders and tilted his head appraisingly. “I’m sure Stark could work out a harness that could accommodate your, uh, shape shifting or whatever.”

“I don’t know,” Eddie hedged. “It seems like a lot of extra--”

**It is six o’clock.**

“Hmm?”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “What?”

**I said, it is six o’clock.**

“Yeah?” Eddie mused. “And?”

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You’re doing the private convo thing again, right? Yeah alright, that’s not rude or anything, go ahead and be like that. I’ll just stand here and enjoy being ignored, it’s fine.”

**“Apologies, Falcon.”** Venom’s head popped out from Eddie’s shoulder.  **“We’re very interested in the wings--”**

“Not really,” Eddie muttered.

**“--but we have to leave. We have other plans.”**

“We do?” Eddie was taken aback. Usually, Venom was eager to spend quality time with Sam, the Avenger he most admired. Sam seemed chill with-- and somewhat amused by-- Venom’s interest in him, though he’d made it clear that he had no interest in playing host any time soon.

**“We do,”** Venom insisted.

Eddie shrugged. “Alright, I guess.” He waved goodbye to Sam, and jumped slightly as Venom slid back in through his shoulder and propelled them faster towards the elevator.

In the shower, Eddie sighed and took a minute to let the hot water wash over his back. Training with Sam was always extra intense, partly because Sam was used to training with super soldiers, and partly because Venom liked to show off a bit.

Venom was quiet during the shower, but Eddie could sense a thread of tension as he turned off the water and toweled off. When he reached for his favorite pair of plaid pajama pants, Venom grumbled.

**Those pants have a hole in the ass.**

“So?” Eddie said. “They’re comfortable.”

**They are? Yes… yes, they are.**

Eddie frowned as he pulled on his old UCSC Banana Slugs hoodie. “You okay?”

**Yes. I want you to be comfortable. You may wear those holey pants.**

“Wow, thanks,” Eddie said flatly. He went into the kitchen, but paused at the doorway. 

The kitchen table was laid out with fancy china. One extra large plate was set with six courses worth of silver and a cloth napkin folded into a swan. A choice cut of grilled filet rested in the middle of the plate, surrounded by intricately stacked tater tots. Sweet Chili Doritos rested in a silver bowl next to the plate. In the center of the table, seven candles flickered in a candelabra that looked as though it was torn from a gothic romance novel.

“Um…” Eddie’s voice cracked. “What  _ is _ this?”

**It’s a date,** Venom said, his tone matter-of-fact.  **You said we could talk about our relationship. Humans do this sort of thing over dinner dates. So, here you go.**

“Right,” Eddie said weakly. “Here I go.”

**And you are in your comfortable trash pants.**

“Yup.” Eddie felt lightheaded. A tentacled sludge alien was wooing him with steak and junk food. This was his life now.

**Well? Why don’t you sit down, and we can talk about--**

“Talk?” Eddie burst into a fit of high-pitched laughter. “Talk? I can’t… this is surreal!”

**Is that good?**

“I don’t know!” Eddie threw his hands up in the air. “I just… I don’t know.”

He wasn’t sure what to think. Yes, it was true that he felt more in synch with Venom than he’d ever felt with anyone else, but that was to be expected. They shared a body,  _ of course _ they would share other things.

**That’s okay.** Eddie felt Venom run along his limbs on the inside, warming them even as a shiver ran down Eddie’s spine.  **Have a seat. Eat a tater tot. We don’t have to have a plan of what to talk about. Whatever happens, happens.**

This was something Eddie could manage. This wasn’t a typical situation. They didn’t necessarily have to hash every detail out right this second. Eddie and Venom had lived in tandem for months now. Surely they could survive a few boundary pushes.

Eddie took a deep breath. “Right. Okay, I can do that.”

**_We_ ** **can do that.**

“Yeah.” Eddie grinned. “We can.”

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Eddie gasped and pressed his face into the pillow. “Fuck! That feels amazing.”

**I know. I feel what you feel.**

Eddie wasn’t quite sure how they’d ended up this way. They’d enjoyed the steak and tater tots, laughed a bit over the expensive white wine that Tony had stocked. And then, well…

It wasn’t as though Eddie had never considered the physical aspects of being bonded with a symbiote. Hell, those had been some of his first thoughts.  _ How the fuck am I gonna jack off with this thing in my head all the time? _

But Eddie and Venom’s relationship had developed since then. Eddie would be fooling himself if he tried to pretend that he’d never fantasized about those long tendrils running against his skin, the warm breath heating up his neck as those sharp teeth and thick tongue worked themselves over his body.

Fantasy had turned to pure want, and now want was becoming reality.

Venom had snaked his way around Eddie’s limbs, pressing him down by the shoulders, into the bed. Tendrils ran down Eddie’s arms, entwined with his fingers. They circled Eddie’s ass, kneading deeply, working up and around to his hips and thighs. 

He hissed as the warmth of Venom’s tongue pressed firmly against his hole. There was no hesitation as it circled the rim and worked its way in. Eddie leaned back into it, wanton and begging, his fingernails dragging against the sheets. Precum from his leaking dick smeared across his stomach as he thrust his hips backwards.

It was all a blur, the sensations of Venom’s caresses against his skin,  _ within _ him, mixed with the echo from Venom’s conscious of what it felt like to touch Eddie. It was overwhelming, in a way that made Eddie yearn to dive in deeper, to suffocate in it.

A tendril snaked down to wind around Eddie’s dick. Venom started to work the shaft, and all the while his tongue delved deeper into Eddie’s ass. Tears streamed down Eddie’s cheeks and soaked into the pillowcase. 

This was incomparable; being part of something more than himself, and yet being  _ cared for _ so completely. He willingly gave up control in order to harness it into something all encompassing that left him utterly wrecked.

Eddie sensed that Venom felt the same. _ I feel what you feel,  _ Venom had said, and it worked both ways. Just as Eddie felt the smooth friction of Venom’s tongue against his rim, he could also taste the hot slickness of himself as an echo on his own tongue.

It should have been dirty, but all Eddie felt was  _ good, right, yes, please, more-- _

He breathed into the pillow, then reached one hand towards his dick. He felt Venom’s tendril lace through his fingers as he started to jerk himself together with Venom, frantically chasing completion, relishing the slick, warm feel of Venom’s touch beside him,  _ inside _ him still as his tongue,  _ their _ tongue, thickened and thrust deeper, harder, faster--

Eddie let out a strangled scream against the pillowcase as he came in hot, sticky spurts against the sheets. He felt Venom shudder within him as the orgasm wracked through them both, together. With trembling legs, he threw himself onto his back, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. Venom curled back into him, content, but still a little wired.

**That was… That was…**

“Intense.” Eddie had dabbled in more than his fair share of mind altering substances, particularly during sex, and he’d never felt anything that left him as fucked-out as that.

**Yes. Holy shit.**

Eddie let out half a chuckle. “Holy shit?”

**People say that. I heard it on TV.**

“Yes,” Eddie agreed. “They do say it.”

Neither of them spoke for a long while. Eddie began to chew on his lip as he turned the last hour over in his head. He’d just fucked an alien. An alien with whom he was bodily shacked up for the foreseeable future. And now they were awkwardly trying to avoid the wet spot together.

He frantically tried to think of a Dear Abby that went over the proper etiquette for this sort of thing, but came up empty. 

“Um, so this isn’t… this is… kinda weird, huh?”

**So?** Venom seemed unperturbed.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “So, I just… I don’t know what to do now.”

**Neither do I.** Venom sounded amused.  **You are the first human I’ve fucked.**

“Really?” Eddie grinned. “I guess that makes sense. This isn’t exactly a common situation.”

**Good.** Venom rumbled with satisfaction in Eddie’s chest.

“Why good?”

**Why wouldn’t it be?** Venom said, scandalized. **You don’t** **_want_ ** **to be common, do you? Normal? At this late date?**

“Fair point,” Eddie mused. He closed his eyes and thought about getting up to grab a wet towel from the bathroom, or maybe a shower. Later. 

**And I am the first symbiote you’ve ever fucked, correct?**

“Correct.” Eddie squeezed his eyes shut tighter, making an effort not to laugh. Where the hell would he find another symbiote to fuck?

Venom let out a pleased hum.  **Good. Not that it matters. But… good.**

Eddie was pleased, too, and he knew exactly why. It was the mark of something special between him and Venom, the same way he and Venom were a perfect symbiote and host match. Even if he’d fucked a hundred symbiotes, Eddie knew that none would slot against him as seamlessly as Venom did.

Venom was special.  _ They _ were special. Together.

**Eddie.** The wheedling tone was back.

Eddie’s right eye cracked open. “Hmm?”

**We are boyfriends now, right?**

Eddie blushed deeper than someone who’d just had an alien tongue up their ass had any right to. “Yeah. I guess we are.”

**And partners? Like the Captain and the Sergeant?**

Eddie thought of the passionate embrace between Steve and Bucky. He didn’t understand the depths of their connection, but he did understand the connection between Venom and himself. It was just as strong, in a different way, perhaps, but no less intense.

“Yeah. We are.”

**Except we’re much cooler.**

Eddie grinned as Venom eased a tendril out to wind down his arm and clasp his hand. “Of course we are. No question.”

 

#  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

**We are definitely eating those. The Widow says alien invader heads are free game.**

Eddie eyed the violent green ooze slipping thickly from the pile of dismembered bodies. “I dunno about those. What if they’re poisonous?”

**They smell good.**

“They do,” Eddie admitted. “Alright, maybe just one--”

**Shh! The Falcon is coming! No snacks today!**

Eddie bit back a chuckle at Venom’s frantic tone. He waved as Sam approached them. Neither Steve nor Sam were particularly enthused about the head eating thing. Venom didn’t mind grossing Steve out a little, but he tried to be respectful around Sam.

“Nice work out there.” Sam stood next to him, a friendly grin on his face. “Bad guys go down a lot quicker with you two here.”

“I’m not going to bother turning that into a dirty joke.” Tony’s voice came in over the Comms as he landed in his Iron Man suit and removed his helmet. “You deliberately set me up for it.”

Sam didn’t reply, but his grin widened. Tony shook his head in mock disappointment. He gestured towards Eddie.

“Good thing you two are officially on the team. We need some new blood, all the better if it’s alien blood.”

“Really?” Eddie raised one eyebrow, attempting not to seem overeager. “We’re on the team? Officially? Since when?”

“Since Cap and his battle bot husband officially joined back up. Or they will once we get back from this mission.” Tony jerked his head at Sam irritably. “Cap’s roped this guy into joining, too. I’ll be outnumbered. I need more people on my side.”

**Who’s to say that we’ll side with him?**

Eddie grinned at Venom’s amused tone. “True. Tony, what makes you think we’ll side with you over Cap?”

**And the Falcon?**

“And the Falcon,” Eddie added. 

“I’ll make you a suit!” Tony’s gaze dragged up and down Eddie’s frame appraisingly. “I could make you something cool, like Hulk’s, so it changes size and shape when you do.”

**Gross,** Venom huffed.  **The Hulk’s shorts are terrible.**

“They really are,” Eddie agreed. He narrowed his eyes at Tony, even as he smiled. “What else you got?”

Tony threw his hands in the air as Sam laughed. “You’d be a freaking superhero? Working alongside Cap and his buddies, who you clearly like way more than me? What more do you want!” He snapped his fingers. “Aha! I can give you a clever nickname. I’m good at those, you know.”

Eddie’s heartbeat quickened as Venom swelled up inside him.

**“We will join you, but we do not want another name. We already have one, together.”**

Together they filled out their form, standing tall and broad shouldered with their face split into two. They grinned down at Tony and Sam with great joy.

**“We are Venom.”**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on [Tumblr](https://stevesambucky.tumblr.com/), [Dreamwidth](https://nachodiablo.dreamwidth.org/), or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nachodiablo1).


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